Page 149 of Cherry Beats

“Shut up, woman,” Bourbon sighed.

I looked at my two friends. Bourbon was dressed in his usual attire. Those heels on his boots, blue jeans, and a chequered shirt with a T-shirt underneath. Molly had gone all-out boho, with a long, summery, pale blue dress on that made her seem like she was walking on air. She had a wreath of delicate flowers around her head. Me? I was the same as always, only today I was wearing a trilby hat and a pair of sunglasses to hide behind, as well as cut-off jean shorts, my Docs, and my trusty Bryan Adams T-shirt, which I’d drowned in my favourite perfume. You know… just in case I did see Presley.

Did I want to see him? I couldn’t decide.

Mentally, I was becoming stronger day by day, while undeniably missing him more than I could explain. My body ached, physically ached, for him. Sometimes, I’d sit on the sofa with my lips parted, and my eyes closed, imagining him coming closer to me and pressing his soft, sweet mouth against mine. The smell of whiskey made my skin prickle, too.

I’d made memories with him that would last me a lifetime. Whether there would be any more involving him was yet to be determined.

Scaredy cat.

“Come on. Let’s get the drinks in,” Molly said, leading the way down the hills of the grassy bowl. Bourbon and I followed, each of us navigating our way down the pathways and through the crowds until we came to beer van. Molly ordered, doubling up on the drinks so we wouldn’t have to spend all day and night queueing, and when she called me and Bourbon over to grab our drinks, we did as we were told.

“Get over there,” she whispered, gesturing to an empty space farther to our left.

Bourbon led the way this time, each of us carrying two drinks, before he turned and looked at Molly with a raise of his brow. “Right here, your highness?”

“Don’t be facetious.”

“I don’t even know what that means.”

“Well, you can’t be blessed with looksandbrains, Bourbon.”

He grinned brightly, his eyes widening as he looked at her with surprise. “Iknewyou had a thing for me really.”

“Busted.” She laughed and rolled her eyes before she moved closer to me and leaned in. “Did you see those girls behind me in the queue?”

I glanced behind us, not really noticing anyone. They all looked the same. Everything seemed to be a little foggier these days, the only things standing out being anything related to Presley goddamn West.

“Who?”

“Those three girls who were dressed in Youth Gone Wild T-shirts. One of them had Presley’s face plastered all over her chest.”

Uch.“Cool.” I nodded slowly.

“Are you sure you’re going to be okay here? His face is… everywhere.”

“His face is everywhere no matter where I go or what I do. It’s a king’s world.”

“Do you think anyone has recognised you yet? From all the social media and newspaper stuff?”

I glanced around, not seeing anyone in particular looking my way. “If they do, I can deny it’s me, right? I don’t think anyone will expect me to be anywhere other than backstage if they think I’m here at all… which they wouldn’t because I’m not who they care about in all of this. If women have Presley’s face on their chests, I’m pretty sure they’ll love the fact that we’re no longer together.”

“You just let me know if it gets too much and you need to get out of here.”

“Wait. I thought Molly Baines was firmly camped in Team Presley.”

“No, baby girl. I’m renting space in Team Tessa. I just happen to think Team Tessa and Team Presley go quite well together.” She smirked.

It was my turn to roll my eyes, and I turned to look back at the stage with a smile on my face. We were here. Presley wasn’t far away. Now I had to figure out how the hell I felt about that.

The three of us were on the flat ground section of the bowl, right in the middle where the super eager fans were pushing to get as close to the T-shaped stage as they possibly could be. The hills surrounding us were filling with parties of people pitching their places for the entire day and night. The air hummed with excitement and noise. The sun shone brightly—not too hot, not too cold—making it the perfect atmosphere for a day filled with music.

And maybe a little lusting after the most-wanted man on the planet.

Butterflies fluttered their delicate wings in my stomach, making me press a hand to it and take a breath every few minutes.

“I wish we’d taken him up on that offer of VIP passes,” Bourbon said, while I stared at the stage in front of me. “Remind me why we’re out here with the minions when we could be back there with music royalty.”

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